Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has renewed her call for the Biden administration to declare fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction.”
Except she now has a liberal ally: Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat.
In fact, she has several, demonstrating that dealing with the devastation and loss caused by fentanyl may be one of the few things Americans on both sides can agree on.
Moody made her remarks Wednesday following a “security briefing” that included Florida law enforcement officers and anti-fentanyl activists.
“Other substances that have previously been considered weapons of mass destruction, chemical or biological agents, are in scarce supply because we have targeted them,” said Moody. “We have gone after them, not just with traditional narcotics agencies. We have enlisted the Department of Defense … to counter weapons of mass destruction. And that must happen now, as it relates to fentanyl.”
Moody added that the amount of fentanyl loose on America’s streets now could produce an event causing “mass casualties.”
“The time has come for us to take this drug seriously,” she added. “We cannot treat this as any traditional narcotic has been treated in the past.”
Moody also noted, “I first called for President Biden to take swift action in July and call fentanyl what it is—a weapon of mass destruction. Now, I am leading a bipartisan coalition of 18 attorneys general demanding the president take action now, declare fentanyl a WMD and join us in our fight to prevent the death and destruction caused by this highly-lethal substance from getting even worse.”
In a press release on Wednesday, Moody’s office noted that more than 75,000 Americans died from a fentanyl-related overdose fo the 12-month period ending in February 2022.
“The amount of fentanyl seized since February of last year could kill every man, woman and child in the country more than 11 times over—raising concerns over the potential that the synthetic opioid is being stockpiled in the U.S.” her office noted.
Three Tampa Bay area sheriffs supported Moody’s call for classifying fentanyl a WMD.
In a statement, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said, “Fentanyl is a violently dangerous drug that is responsible for thousands of deaths every year here in Florida. Unfortunately, the latest data from the CDC shows that our state has the second-most deaths related to drug overdoses. This is a battle that we, at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, take on every single day. We will continue to work tirelessly through regular law enforcement operations and with our Attorney General to remove it from our streets.”
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco added, “Substance abuse and addiction are healthcare issues to which, unfortunately, law enforcement has been forced to be the primary responder. We see firsthand the way this impacts our communities with loved ones taken from their families and friends by the horrific drug fentanyl. We must continue to find ways for society to address this healthcare issue.”
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Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri noted, “The impact fentanyl has had on our community – is that since 2019 in Pinellas County, about 1,300 people have died from opioid deaths….moms, dads, sisters, brothers, parents – people are affected by this every day.”
The conservative website Florida Voice noted that besides Tong, Moody is joined by AGs from Arkansas, Guam, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.”
Moody first raised this issue in July with a letter to Biden, as The Free Press reported.
“While there are many acts and steps that your administration could take, like stopping the overwhelming influx of illegal immigrants and further fortifying the southern border, I realize that your administration will not or is incapable of taking those actions,” she argued. “Your administration has dangerously failed to recognize the ties between criminal drug cartels and both the surge of illegal immigration and the flood of fentanyl into this country.”
“There is not a serious dispute that fentanyl could be weaponized causing a mass casualty event.”
She also called for passage of the “Fentanyl is a WMD Act,” introduced in June by Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert.
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